The Work is Not Finished

Recent events have brought renewed attention to something we should never allow ourselves to regard as settled: the right of women and girls to live, learn, work and participate in their communities free from discrimination, harassment and sexualized violence.

Nearly a decade ago, the #MeToo movement brought experiences that had too often been dismissed, minimized or kept private into public view. It prompted difficult conversations and meaningful change in workplaces, institutions and industries around the world.

But progress should not be mistaken for completion, and the work doesn’t end when the issue leaves the news cycle.

We continue to see attitudes and behaviours that objectify women, diminish their dignity or treat sexual harassment and violence as something to joke about, excuse or accept. Recent events remind us that these attitudes have not disappeared.

This matters from a human rights perspective.

Discrimination based on sex or gender and sexual harassment can prevent women from participating equally in education, employment and public life. Under the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act, sex, gender identity and expression are protected characteristics. But the responsibility to uphold the dignity and equality of women and girls extends beyond laws, policies and formal complaints.

Culture is shaped in everyday moments. It is shaped by what we say, what we tolerate, what we challenge and what we allow to pass in the spirit of humour or comradery.

That places a responsibility on all of us, and particularly on men and boys, to recognize misogyny when we encounter it and to speak up. Silence can allow harmful attitudes to become normalized. Challenging them helps establish a different expectation.

The renewed conversation taking place now offers an opportunity. We must listen to women and girls. We must examine the cultures within our institutions and communities. And we must ask whether the progress we believed we had made is being experienced equally everywhere.

Human rights are not secured by declaring the work finished. They are protected by continuing to do the work.

The preceding is a message from Joseph Fraser, Director and CEO of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.